


Of Monsters and Men

by alexcat



Category: Lord of the Rings (Movies), Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-18
Updated: 2012-10-18
Packaged: 2017-11-16 13:26:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/539920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The books all lied. Yes, the Ring was destroyed and yes, Frodo did it. The Dark Lord was destroyed and Aragorn became the King. The elves went into the West and so did Gandalf eventually.</p><p>But Boromir did not die at Amon Hen, though there were nights that he wished he had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Part One 

The books all lied. Yes, the Ring was destroyed and yes, Frodo did it. The Dark Lord was destroyed and Aragorn became the King. The elves went into the West and so did Gandalf eventually.

But Boromir did not die at Amon Hen, though there were nights that he wished he had.

*****

Boromir tried to save the little ones. He adored them, both of them so loving and affectionate and so loyal to those they called friends. But the hordes of Orcs took them. Then the huge Orc, yet not an Orc, came into the clearing. He raised his bow and started to shoot Boromir. But he stopped and said something in a low growl to the Orc beside him and Boromir was bound and taken away too. He wasn't taken to where the hobbits were, though.

He was blindfolded and bound. And then the world went dark.

*****

The first thing Boromir noticed when he awoke was the smell. It was strange, like animals, but not quite. His head hurt like hell, and he was cold. The blindfold was gone. So were his clothes. He opened his eyes gingerly. He was in a room of some sort though the floor felt like a dirt floor. He seemed to be alone.

He felt the shackles when he tried to get up. He fell back, frustrated and more than a little scared now. He wondered how long he had been here. From his hunger and thirst, he would estimate that it had been a day or two. He looked around the cell, for that is what he decided it was.

"Human, you are awake," came a voice that was little more than a feral growl. He turned and looked into the yellow eyes of Lurtz, Saruman's perfect blend of Orc and goblin. He stood perhaps seven feet tall and was bulging with muscles all over. His skin was dark for the most part, though there were patches on his face of skin the color of Boromir's own. Part of his long black hair was tied up in a top knot on his head, the rest hang down around his huge shoulders. His ears were pointed, looking much like Legolas' ears. Boromir had heard rumors that Orcs had been made from elves, tortured and mutilated until they became something else altogether. His eyes were the yellow eyes of a beast. And his mouth, huge with sharp teeth that looked as if they could tear the very meat from Boromir's bones. Boromir's heart pounded with fear, and something else. Here before him stood the perfect warrior, something to be feared AND admired for what he was.

"You will speak to me human. I am Lurtz, Captain of the Uruk_hai. Your fate rests in my hands." Even though the monster spoke slowly, Boromir still had some trouble understanding him. He would come to understand him well. "Who are you, Human?"

"I am Boromir of Gondor."

He saw the change in the monster's eyes. He wasn't sure if it because of who he was or not, but he knew he had much to fear from his captor as the huge Uruk-hai crossed the cell to him. The yellow eyes dilated, and Boromir's eyes fell down to the huge erection under Lurtz's breechcloth. Fear made his mouth dry, made his heart bang against his chest so hard he was sure Lurtz could hear it. He stared as the huge creature exposed his manhood. It, like the Uruk_hai, was huge, dusky in color like the warrior's skin and totally erect. Boromir shuffled backwards on the floor as far as his shackles would let him go.

He closed his eyes as large hands ran down his naked body. They weren't gentle as they explored his pale skin. He cringed when Lurtz lifted his hair and ran a rough finger around his ear. He couldn't move when he felt a mouth touch his skin, licking his shoulder and his chest, licking almost as if Lurtz were checking to see if he'd make a good meal. The mouth continued all over him. He was shaking with fear as he felt the sharp teeth gently graze his manhood. He shook with shame a moment later as his cock responded to the hot tongue of the monster, becoming hard in seconds. He kept his eyes closed tight as his semen shot down Lurtz's throat minutes later. The wet mouth left him, cold and ashamed.

"Open your eyes," the gravely voice commanded. When he did, the Uruk_hai warrior was on his knees beside him, his huge erection in his hand. Boromir knew what he was meant to do, though he wasn't sure he could do it. Lurtz was huge, but Boromir was able to take most of him into his mouth. He found that if he didn't look at him but rather tried to stare a bit unfocused that it was very much like having any other man in his mouth. His captor filled his mouth with sticky white semen that smelled and tasted faintly of the same animal like essence that he found in his cell.

The huge Uruk_hai pushed him back to the floor and put his breechcloth back in place.

"You are mine, human, all mine." He left the cell.

Boromir closed his eyes, and it took him a long time to realize the wetness running down his face was his own tears.

\---

Aragorn mourned the loss of Boromir, but knew that he, Gimli and Legolas had to go after the hobbits. They were defenseless. Boromir was a warrior and stood a fighting chance. The little ones, as Boromir called them, didn't. They all packed up and headed after the Orcs.

One member of the fellowship was distraught, but he never let on to the others. He had admired Boromir since the day they had met in Rivendell, and even Boromir didn't know it. He wished now that he had not been so cautious and had taken the chance. He had watched Boromir in secret, watched him eat, bathe, sleep, even watched him pleasure himself a few times. He couldn't say exactly when that admiration had turned to love, but it had. And now he was gone, maybe dead, and he hadn't told him how he felt. He had forever to regret it, and forever was along time.

Legolas wiped the tears from his cheek before the others saw them. He would fulfill his obligation to the quest and then, until he found him or found out what happened to him, he would devote himself to finding the man he loved with all his heart, Boromir.

*****

A few days after Boromir's capture.....

Boromir lay in the cold cell, naked and shivering. He wasn't afraid any more. A kind of numbness had set in. The big Orc had come to him after dark last night. And Boromir had begged him not to take him. But he did.....

Lurtz had touched him again as he had earlier and Boromir's body had responded in the same way, becoming hard and ready. He felt the same shame as before too, especially when he found himself hoping the creature would take him into his mouth again. Lurtz had other ideas tonight. He turned Boromir onto his stomach on the hard dirt floor and knelt down behind him. Boromir shivered with both pleasure and fear as a wet tongue began to explore his tight hole, teasing all around before finally sliding inside. Boromir almost screamed as the long, thick tongue found his tiny gland and licked it. He heard the monster growl at his moans and groans. The huge clawed hand that slid under him began to stroke him as the warrior's tongue continued its relentless assault. He came hard, bucking and crying as his semen spurted out onto the dirt floor beneath him.

Lurtz lifted him up onto his knees and entered him. Boromir screamed as the huge penis tore into him. Lurtz roared and moved in him, hard and fast. He felt like his body was being torn apart. Indeed it was, as blood ran down the backs of his legs as Lurtz continued to pound into him. Finally Boromir heard that feral scream as the Uruk_hai came into him, slamming him flat onto the ground, his face pressed into the dirt.

When it was over and both man and monster lay panting, Lurtz did something that Boromir never expected at all. He sat up against the cell wall and pulled the frightened, hurt human over to him. He pulled Boromir into his lap and held him, rubbing cold bruised arms and smoothing the tangled dark blond hair. Boromir could have sworn a mouth touched his forehead just before he drifted off to sleep.

\---

Boromir quickly grew accustomed to life with the Uruk_hai. He had no choice, really. It was either adapt or die, and he wasn't ready to die yet. It wasn't easy, though. He was a warrior, used to a rough life, but not like this. The Orcs lived more like animals than human in some ways.

The Orcs ate meat, not really caring if it was cooked or raw, if it was fresh or rancid. He spent several days vomiting up every thing he ate and vomiting finally every time he thought about food. Finally the food began to stay down as his stomach became more able to digest it.

Lurtz still used him almost every night. Even that wasn't so bad. The huge Uruk_hai seemed to have no interest in really hurting him. He always seemed intrigued by Boromir's orgasms and his semen. And oddly enough, he sat with the smaller human on hip lap lots of nights until Boromir slept. They had brought him a blanket too though he still had no clothes.

Several weeks after he was captured, Lurtz brought a loincloth into his now unlocked cell. Boromir was thrilled to get it. He didn't know why, it barely covered him, but somehow it made him feel more human and less animal. He learned some of the strange elvish patois that the Orcs spoke. To his own horror, he was beginning consider himself one of them.

One morning, Lurtz appeared at his cell with a smaller Orc. The smaller Orc brought armor and a sword. Lurtz took them from the small Orc and handed them to Boromir.

"You are a warrior. You are now one of us. You will fight with us." Lurtz himself tied Boromir's hair up into a top knot and held him as they branded the hand of Saruman on his buttock with a hot iron.

He began to train with them. He was agile and fast compared to the Orcs, but in brute strength, they beat him every time. He was battered and bruised, but he felt as if he had purpose now. He no longer slept in the cell, but Lurtz still took him there almost every night. The memories of the Fellowship were dim, so dim that he hardly thought about them at all.

*****

Legolas never stopped thinking about Boromir. They had tracked the Little Ones and were closing in. Each day was darker and drearier and more hopeless to him. Sometimes he felt that he would never see the forest or the sun again. He clung to his hope that Boromir was alive somewhere out there. He clung to it with ever fiber of his being. Otherwise, he feared he would fade away.

He often noticed Aragorn watching him, looking thoughtful.

"Legolas, what plagues you? I see the pain in your eyes and in your face."

"I cannot say the words, my friend. The pain is so near, I can't give voice to it."

They were sitting resting in a dark glade, the gathering clouds of doom over their heads. Legolas was surprised when Aragorn pulled him back against him, his back against the human's chest. Aragorn put an arm around the front of him and kissed the back of his head.

"Rest, my friend. For a few hours, let your mind be eased and let me hurt for you. I know who you mourn for. I am not an elf, but I am more observant than most."

Legolas felt a hot tear run down his face and soon he found himself weeping in the arms of his best friend. After he cried, he rested in Aragorn's arms, putting his cares and sorrow in the back of his mind for another day.

\---

The Orcs moved out before dawn, when it was still cold. Boromir was included this time. He had his sword, and his bow and arrows. He was not a great archer, but he had been working on it with Lurtz. They marched for two days until the forward groups sent back the information that the enemy was close ahead. The enemy was human, but they were not from Rohan nor Gondor. Boromir did not know them, and he only felt a passing pang of guilt as they were engaged in battle. He fought beside Lurtz, amazed at the strength of his benefactor, for that is how he had come to think of the huge Uruk_hai warrior.

When the day was done, their foes lay dead or dying on the ground. They ate the horses of the fallen, those that they could catch. They built fires and celebrated into the night. Lurtz told Boromir he was to become Uruk_hai that night. He wondered at what they meant. Finally, he found out. Lurtz held the iron into the fire and Boromir realized they meant to brand him. He looked around and noticed that many of the Orcs had small hands branded into their skin on arms or legs or even buttocks or chests. The hand of Saruman... he would wear the hand of Saruman. He knew that was supposed to mean something to him, but he couldn't quite remember what.

He removed his clothes and turned over onto his stomach. The pain was searing and intense. For a minute, he thought it would burn him to the bone, but it only felt like it. After the iron was pulled away, a small Orc poured something on it that made the burning less intense. He turned so he could see it, a flaming red hand at the top of his thigh on the outside. He smiled and sat down to eat some more horsemeat. He was Uruk_hai!

Much later, after all the food was gone and the fires had burned down to a dull glow, Lurtz rose to his feet and looked at Boromir with narrowed eyes. "You fought well today, human," he said in the common tongue. "Come with me."

Boromir followed him away from the camp. They stopped at a small copse of trees, one of the few groups of trees to be found this close to Mordor. Lurzt stopped and turned to Boromir. He stripped and motioned for Boromir to do the same. Boromir still felt a bit of dread every time the huge warrior Orc took him.. "Your reward for your first battle." The monster dropped to the ground and it took Boromir a moment to understand what was happening. Lurtz got on his hands and knees in front of Boromir. "Take me, human."

For a minute, maybe two, Boromir didn't move. He just stood there looking at the man.... creature in front of him. He felt the blood rush to his penis, felt it go rock hard. He moved closer, touched the smooth skin on the Uruk_hai's dark back. He spit on his hand and rubbed it on himself, noticing in passing how much his hands were shaking. He moved close to Lurtz and realized he couldn't get on his knees because Lurtz was too tall for him to reach. Instead, he bent his knees and leaned against Lurtz, sliding into him rather abruptly. He tried to hold back the sounds but he couldn't. He moaned as he pounded into the huge Orc. Lurtz grunted every time the man thrust into him, and Boromir was able to reach down under and feel that he, too, was aroused. He rammed into him again and again, not even noticing the hot tears that ran down his cheeks, not noticing the sobs mixed with his moans until he came inside Lurtz, and collapsed on his broad back. Crying, he moved off the Uruk_hai and moved so he could finish him with his mouth. Lurtz roared as he always did when he filled Boromir's mouth with his animal essence.

Boromir did not sleep much that night. He sat by the fire, trying to remember their faces, the faces of the ones he came with. He was able to remember the huge blue eyes of the ringbearer and one other, the elf, the one who watched him sadly all the time. He tried to remember his family, but they were so dim, so far away. He finally got up and sought out Lurtz. He curled beside him and went to sleep finally.

*****


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two 

Legolas found one battle much like the next. Bloodshed and pain. Cold and hunger. And so weary sometimes that he thought he would die from it. But elves are immortal, and his death would not be accomplished so easily, even if he sometimes thought it was what he wanted. He still had one last thing to do. He would not give up until he found Boromir or Boromir's fate.

Legolas began to hear rumors of a human Uruk_hai, a fierce warrior who fought side by side with the fearsome giant warriors that Saruman had created to be an army for Sauron. It was said that this warrior killed many in each and every battle. It did not matter that Saruman had fallen from power, and Isengard had been liberated from him. They fought on, being born only for that one purpose.

No one knew what had happened to Sam and Frodo. They had set out alone for Mount Doom on the day Boromir had been taken. They all assumed that the two of them had fallen victim to their quest. But they all hoped that the deed would be done and the Ring destroyed.

Legolas and Gimli had become the most unlikely of friends. Gimli, he suspected, knew how he felt about Boromir. The dwarf never said anything though. Legolas knew that Gimli watched his back and protected him as they followed Aragorn. They were together for all of it: the horrible battle at Helm's Deep, the taking of Isengard, being reunited with the little ones, the Paths of the Dead, the death of the king of Rohan, the siege at Minas Tirith, the victory after Frodo destroyed the Ring.

One thing happened that affected him more than all the others, meeting Faramir and seeing the face of the man he loved on another person. Faramir seemed to know this. He took Legolas aside on his wedding day.

"You grieve for him."

"Yes, Faramir, I do. But he is not dead. I can feel it in my heart. I fear that what he as become."

"I too feel him in my heart, Legolas. Why do you fear what he has become?"

"I've heard rumors. There is word of a human Uruk_hai who fights with them and kills many in every battle, a fearsome man with eyes the color of grass. It has to be him."

Faramir's eyes filled with tears as he turned to the elf. "By all that is holy, Legolas, that is my brother. If he lives still, I shall find him."

"You have many responsibilities at this time, Lord Faramir. I will find him. If it takes until he is old and gray, I will find him and bring him back to you."

"Why do you pledge these things?"

"He is everything to me, Faramir, closer than family, the other half of my soul." It was the elf's turn to shed a tear as his beloved's brother pulled him into an embrace. "And I never told him....never told him I love him."

Faramir held him and he cried for a long time until Gimli came looking for them. "The Lady Eowyn asks for you, Lord Faramir."

He looked at Legolas and smiled. "Let's go find some ale, elf!"

A few minutes later in a quiet tavern, Legolas and Gimli talked over an ale. "I'm going with you, elf. I'll not be talked out of it."

"But I may not come back."

"You will, elf. You and I are hard to kill."

Legolas started to say something, started to explain his reasons. He looked at Gimli and saw in the dwarf's eyes the same love he felt for Boromir. He knew that Gimli understood, and he knew that Gimli would go with him wherever he went. He smiled a sad smile and said in a small voice, "Let's hunt some Orc then, my friend."

They rode out at dawn. King Eomer had furnished them the finest horses he had. Of course, Gimli rode behind Legolas and they led the second horse for the man they hoped to find.

\---

Morale among the Orcs had been bad since the fall of Mordor and their master. They had no true purpose left, but they lived yet. Their master did not. Boromir sat beside the fire. It was cold and he was cold. He didn't like how they were forced to live now. They hid in caves and abandoned buildings, marauding and raiding villages for food, taking from defenseless people. The Orcs seemed to take as much glee in it as they did anything that required killing. All except Lurtz. He was angry these days. He managed to kill at least five Orcs a day in his rage. He hadn't, as of yet, turned that rage on the human who shared his bed.

Not that Boromir looked or felt human anymore. He considered himself Uruk_hai. He knew he had a life before but it was gone. He could remember little, just images here and there. Warm fires, halflings, lots of food, a blond elf, a ring.... All jumbled up in his mind.

Lurtz came screaming into camp. His yellow eyes glared with rage. The human had discovered their small stronghold here beside the river, thanks to a group of Orcs who had not been careful to kill them all. He killed three Orcs before he made his way to Boromir. He grabbed the human and yanked his breechcloth away. Boromir felt something he seldom felt with his patron, fear. The monster had never exposed him to others before. He did now, then he knelt down behind the naked man and took him in front of the smaller Orcs, ramming his huge cock into the smaller man again and again.

Boromir didn't know what the liquid on his face was. He had not shed tears in a very long time. He shed many that day as the huge Orc finished with him then gave him to the others to play with. They did, taking him so many times that he lost count before he finally lost consciousness.

When he awoke, he was in the tent that Lurtz called home. His wounds were being tended by Lurtz himself. He closed his eyes and let himself be tended. He slept for several days and finally when he awakened, he was able to convince himself that it was nightmare and didn't really happen.

Life went on.

*****

Legolas asked the man again. "Are you sure they were all Orcs?"

"See for yourself, elf. They're camped just over that ridge and about five miles down the river."

"Was there a huge Orc with him, standing taller than men or elves?"

"You mean the monster? Yes, he was with them. Killing Orcs, he was, throwing dead Orcs around like bags of cabbage. That thing ain't no Orc. Its a monster."

Legolas looked at Gimli. For the first time in weeks, the elf could see a glimmer of hope. He had not heard of the large Uruk _hai being spotted before now. He spurred his horse in the direction that the man pointed. They saw smoke in the distance.

"I need to walk from here. You stay here with the horses, Gimli."

"Do you think me insane, elf? I go with you unless you mean to die by taking the whole Orc army on."

"I might as well if I can't find him, Gimli."

The dwarf put a hand on his arm. "I'm with you to the end, Legolas. Let's go."

They walked toward the smoke.

\---

Legolas was very tired, which was unusual for an elf. He had watched the Orc encampment for days without sight of Boromir. He saw the giant Orc though. He must have stopped killing other Orcs because all Legolas saw him do was sit by the fire and go into a makeshift tent several times a day. Just as he was getting ready to turn away, a figure emerged from the tent. He was bigger than the Orcs and smaller than the giant.

Legolas felt his knees go weak. His heart almost jumped from his chest. It was Boromir. He was dressed as an Orc though and had his long hair tied up on top of his head. He sat down by the fire and ate something that another Orc gave to him.

Gimli spoke quietly, "It's him, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is Boromir. Do you think he is willingly one of them?"

"He is now."

They watched for hours until the darkness fell. Gimli had a feeling that if they stayed, Legolas was going to see more than he could handle. He didn't think Legolas had thought past finding the human. He had.

"We should go back to the village and rest. We can do nothing tonight."

"Wait. I want to see him again."

So they sat. Two figures emerged from the tent and moved into the shadows nearer to Legolas and Gimli. Legolas watched them from the darkness. They did not speak. It was Boromir and Lurtz. They stopped in a small clearing. Legolas watched as they undressed each other. The monster leaned down and touched the man, touched him the way Legolas wanted to, touched his penis with his huge hands and with his mouth. He watched as the man he loved writhed and moaned beneath the mouth of that monster, listened to him speak Orcish as he came in the big Orc's mouth. He watched the Orc get on its knees behind Boromir and put his huge cock inside the human. He started shaking when they both began to make loud sounds of pleasure and as the Orc screamed as it came inside the man. Tears coursed down his smooth cheeks when the Orc took the man into his lap and petted him like a dog when it was over.

He didn't remember Gimli taking his arm and leading him away, back toward the village. He didn't remember getting the horses or riding the rest of the way.

When they got to the village, Gimli got them a room and undressed Legolas and put him in the bed. He undressed himself and lay beside his friend, pulling him into his arms. The elf didn't say anything for a long time. But he stopped shaking as Gimli rubbed his arms and smoothed his hair back.

"He is mate to the Orc, isn't he?"

"I fear so, elf. There was no force."

Legolas began to cry again. Gimli held him tight as sobs wracked his body. Finally, when the exhausted elf slept a little, Gimli let himself cry too. He cried for the pain of the one he loved and cried for what would never be. He finally slept too, knowing that the new day would be one of the hardest days he'd ever lived through.

\---

Legolas and Gimli set out at dawn for the Orc encampment. It wasn't that far so they arrived at their vantage point long before the Orcs stirred from their sleep. There was no sign of Boromir or his Orc, as Legolas had begun to think of him. Perhaps they slept in the tent.

"Elf, what do you mean to do when we find them? Kill them all?" Gimli asked.

"I don't know. I just have to get him away from the Orcs. I can't let that Uruk_hai use him anymore." Legolas' eyes glittered with tears as he looked toward the camp. His mouth was set in a stubborn line "Even if he wants it. We'll have the best chance if we wait until he leave or until the Orcs all leave the camp. Once we have him, I'm not worried about getting away. If we can make it to the horses, they'll never catch us."

Gimli looked hard at Legolas. "What if he won't come with you?"

"He has to," Legolas whispered in a barely audible voice.

*****

Boromir took his bow and arrow and headed out to a open field to practice. He was still better with the sword than the bow, but he got better all the time. No one bothered to follow him. Despite what had happened a few nights ago, he was still one of the Uruk_hai. And he knew no fear.

He set up some targets he'd made from skins and began to shoot. He loved the sound of the arrows flying through the air and the "thwump" they made when they hit the target. It reminded him of something, something that tugged at his mind when he did it but he could never make the thought or memory fully form.

The man saw the elf come into the clearing. He sucked in a breath. What an exquisitely gorgeous creature. He looked familiar somehow. But--- Boromir caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He wheeled around in time to see Lurtz to his left, lifting his bow and aiming it at the elf. Without a single second's hesitation, he lifted his own bow and shot the Uruk_hai in the chest. Both of their screams rang through the forest as Boromir dropped his bow and ran toward his benefactor.

The huge warrior lay on his back on the green grass. Red blood oozed around the arrow in his chest. Boromir fell to his knees, crying and screaming.

"Don't die! Please!" he begged as if the Orc could choose. He kissed the creature's lips and held him in his arms. The yellow eyes looked at him.

Lurtz whispered, "Go with the elf. The others with kill you. Go with him, my pet." He jerked and exhaled a long breath and the light went out of his eyes. Boromir screamed his grief to the heavens. He felt as if he would die himself , as if he wanted to die. He threw himself on the Orc's lifeless body and sobbed hopelessly.

*****


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three 

Legolas approached Boromir cautiously. The man still lay on the body of the Orc and was sobbing uncontrollably. Legolas bent and touched the filthy man. Boromir quickly sat up and grabbed his wrist.

"Who are you?" he asked in the guttural Orcish language that he spoke.

"Legolas Greenleaf. We were friends once, brothers in arms. Before Amon Hen."

"Amon Hen."

"Why did you save me?" Legolas out his hand over the dirty hand of the man.

"You were too beautiful to kill. I haven't seen beauty in a long time. He.. he was... oh...." He looked down at the dead Orc and began sobbing.

"You must come with me. The Orcs will come soon and they will kill us all."

"I am Uruk_hai!"

"You are human, my friend. They will kill you. He said this to you."

"But I can't just leave him... he was ... I ... elf, help me. He was my life. He took me from my life before and made his own. He ... we." He began to cry again. Legolas put his arms around the trembling man.

When the man stopped crying, Legolas pulled him from the Uruk_hai warrior, grabbed the man's weapons and hurried him to the woods. Gimli met them and they headed for where the horses were waiting. Legolas tied Boromir's horse to his own, and they rode as fast as the horses from Rohan could run. Eomer had given them fast horses when he'd heard of their errand. Legolas was glad of them now.

They rode past the village and farther on until nightfall. They stopped at another village, much farther from the Orcs. Legolas found some rooms for the three of them while Gimli stayed with the huddled man in the livery stable where they would leave their horses. Boromir still spoke in Orcish and was crying almost constantly.

Legolas found them sitting on a bale of hay in the stable. Gimli had an arm awkwardly around the shaking man. Legolas told them to come with him to the inn. He put his cloak around the man as they went to their rooms. He had had the innkeeper bring him a large tub of warm water with lots of soap and some towels.

"Boromir, I'm going to take your clothes off. We have to bathe you and put human clothes on you. Do you understand me?"

Boromir swallowed and nodded. He stood still as Legolas took the cloak from him and then reached for the breechcloth. He cringed. "I won't hurt you," the elf whispered as he looked at the body of the man he loved. He saw the new scars and he winced at the brand. The man was almost as dark as Lurtz had been, as Orcs never wasted time on bathing. Legolas helped into the tub and bade him sit. He knelt down and began to bathe him with the soap the innkeeper had sent.

Gimli left the room to find some food for them and because he could not bear to watch Legolas touching the man all over.

Legolas gently washed the grime of many months from the man's skin. Before he was half done, the water was so dirty he had to have it emptied and more brought in. Finally, by the third tub, he could see the man he knew under all the grime. His skin was darkened from living outdoors and his hair was very long and more blond than red now. Legolas found himself thinking lustful thoughts about the man standing beautiful and naked before him. He wanted to reach out and touch that hard chest, to run his hand lower and stroke his manhood to life, but this was not the time. He dressed him in some clothing that Faramir had sent, clothing of Gondor. After he had dressed him, Legolas pulled his long blond hair back into a ponytail and secured with a leather string at the nape of his neck.

Boromir was quite striking. But then to the elf, he always had been. Gimli came back with two serving boys and a huge dinner. At first, Boromir was hesitant about the food, but after he tasted a bit he ate like he'd not had food in a long time. Legolas was afraid all that food would make him sick but it only made him sleepy.

Legolas helped him undress again and put him in the bed. He wanted so badly to kiss him, but he dared not. As the elf stripped down to his leggings, Boromir spoke, this time haltingly in the common tongue. "I will sleep on the floor that you may have the bed."

From the man's tone, the elf realized that Boromir thought Legolas was his master now. "No, we are friends. We shall share. The bed is big enough for the both of us."

Legolas lay on his side, resting as elves do, with his eyes open. Boromir had been tossing and turning quite bit, finally crying himself to sleep. Legolas dared not interfere. After awhile, he felt the man draw nearer to him until he felt a warm, naked chest against his back and the feel of soft lips touch his shoulder in a an almost fleeting kiss as an arm came over him to hold him. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes and soon both man and elf slept.

\---

Legolas woke in the night. Boromir was still snuggled up against him, his breath warm against the back of the elf's neck. It had broken his heart to find Boromir as he had. The once proud Gondorian had become whore to an Orc. He was ashamed that he had watched them, ashamed at how aroused he had been. Legolas shifted and lay on his back. He didn't even noticed the green eyes that watched him.

"Elf.. Legolas, what do you plan to do with me?"

"Do with you? You are free, but I think you should stay with me and Gimli until you get your memory back. The world could be dangerous for you."

"I have no fear, elf. I am Uruk_hai."

"No, Boromir, you are human. You are not Uruk_hai. Not anymore."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"Shall I pleasure you, elf? I pleasured my other mas-"

"I am not your master, Boromir. You are a free man of Gondor."

Boromir ran a hand down the elf's chest to his flat stomach. Legolas didn't move.

"You desire me. I know. I saw you when you bathed me. Your eyes said so and," he slid hand down and around the elf's semi hard cock, "so did your cock."

Legolas blushed as he felt himself go hard, rock hard, in the callused hand of the man. He drew in a breath when the hand began to move. "You go too fast, Boromir. Please don't do this. You're not ready for this. I want you but not yet, not...oooohhhhh" His semen spilled out all over his belly and Boromir's hand. He turned his head in shame and in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to please you." Legolas turned and looked at him. He wanted to pull Boromir into his arms and kiss him and tell him that he loved him, but he couldn't. Not yet. He knew that Boromir's life had been fighting and being the Orc's sexual servant. He wanted to wait until Boromir was more the man he knew to tell him how he felt about him.

He pulled the man into his arms and held him until he slept again, though.

*****

Boromir awoke in the arms of the elf. He still had a hard time believing that Lurtz was gone and that he had killed him. He missed him and felt guilt too, but he had known he couldn't let Lurtz kill the elf. He wanted to please the elf, but by pleasuring him he had somehow caused him pain. Maybe if he offered his body to the elf. He saw the lust in Legolas' eyes. Things were so confusing to him.

He fell asleep again with his head on that smooth chest. When he woke it was morning but still dark out. He lay quietly, thinking. He sort of remembered the elf. He remembered a cave and some others. Little people. A human like himself. There were no details. He got up to relive himself and the elf stirred.

"Boromir?"

"I'm here," was all he said as he returned to the bed and the safe arms of Legolas.

*****

The three travelers set out a little past dawn. Boromir's horse wasn't tied to Legolas' steed any more and they rode like the wind. They were headed north and as far from the Orcs as they could be. They were headed for the forest, the forest of Northern Mirkwood. There would Legolas go about caring for Boromir until he was well enough to return to Gondor and to his family.

\---

It was a hard ride to Mirkwood. They slept in inns when they could and the fields and forests when they had to. Boromir slept close to Legolas every night. He didn't touch him sexually again for several nights. Legolas thought a lot about it and finally understood it was Boromir's way of securing his place. He didn't bother to tell Boromir that he would never leave him anyway. He wouldn't have understood. Not yet.

They were close to Mirkwood, about another day's ride. They had bedded down. Gimli took first watch as he often did on the road. Boromir was restless, tossing and turning. Legolas felt him hard against his back. He turned over and looked at the blond in the moonlight. With his long blond hair and the way his face had grown more slender, he could have passed for an elf. For some reason, this was very erotic to Legolas. He put a hand out to cup the man's face.

"Can't you sleep?"

"This is all so strange to me, Legolas. I know I should remember my life but I don't. I know I should feel a lot of things. But I don't. I feel lost most of the time. I know that I wasn't an Orc, but...." He got quiet for awhile and closed his eyes. "He was all I had, Legolas. He made me feel... he was my home. He never hurt more than he had to. Except for once..." his voice caught on the sob in his throat, "he was angry and he gave me to them." He began to cry harder. Legolas gathered him into his arms.

As Boromir's tears slowly began to subside, Legolas was surprised to feel the man's lips touch his. He opened his mouth when he felt Boromir's tongue touch his lips. He could barely believe this was happening. He reached a hand down to touch the man's leggings. He ran his hand over the hard bulge at the front. Boromir groaned and plunged his tongue into the elf's mouth in a kiss that left no doubt as to his intentions. His hands began working the fastenings on Legolas' leggings. He soon had freed the elf from the confines of his clothing. He began to kiss down the front of Legolas' body, lower and lower until the elf arched upward to meet the mouth that was closing on his aching penis.

His release was quick but intense, almost too intense, as he felt the hot mouth suck him until he had given his all. Legolas lay back and looked at Boromir.

"What about you?" He asked the man. "You pleasure me with your hands... and tonight with your mouth, yet you ask nothing."

"I'm not..." and his voice trailed off.

"You're not what?" The elf asked.

"I've been with Orcs. I'm not clean. I couldn't ask you to touch me. I..." He stopped talking as Legolas kissed him.

"Shhhh. That's not true. You are beautiful, Boromir. I would be honored to pleasure you in any way you desire."

Legolas knew the man was crying. He felt the tears touch his face as they fell. The elf wanted so badly to help him, to make him smile again. He did the only thing he could think of. He moved over on his side with his back and his body to Boromir. No one moved for a long minute then Legolas finally let his breath out as Boromir unlaced his leggings and pressed himself against him, and finally after a few moments, into him. Boromir was slick with his own spit and pre-come, slick enough to bury himself deep inside Legolas. He moved slowly, gently, only picking up the pace when the elf began to shift his hips back into him, urging him on. Boromir came hard and fast, crying out Legolas' name loudly as he filled the elf with his seed.

"Thank you," the words were whispered quietly by Boromir. Legolas wanted to say `I love you' in reply but he wanted Boromir to know himself first. He wanted Boromir to love him of his own will, not gratitude or a sense of obligation. But most of all, he wanted Boromir to be himself again, free and proud and the man he had known before. So he just turned over and kissed the man.

*****

Morning came and the last leg of their journey began. Legolas noticed that Boromir sat a bit taller on his horse today, that his green eyes were more observant, that his blond hair had been brushed and braided. He smiled. Perhaps coming home was the best thing to do, after all.

*****


	4. Chapter 4

Part Four 

The mountains marked the southern border of Mirkwood. Though they and the river that ran through them were enchanted, they had no effect on Legolas. Mirkwood was his home. In the southern foothills, just inside the borders of Mirkwood, Legolas had a cottage in the woods. He hated staying at court so he kept his home in the woods and had always spent as much time as possible there. He hoped that Boromir learned to love these mountains too.

Gimli went to get provisions from Thranduil, even though the elf lord had no love for Dwarves. He knew that Gimli was his son's friend and would thus welcome him. Legolas knew that his relationship with Boromir made Gimli uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why but he didn't want his friend to be hurt in any way by the way he felt about Boromir. He would deal with it all later.

The cottage was as he had left it. It was a small stone cottage so covered in vines as to almost be invisible in the lovely green wood. The cottage was one generously sized room with a fireplace, table and bed. The well outside had water so pure that it tasted sweet. And the gardens were filled with sweet smelling flowers that never stopped blooming. Legolas loved this place above all others. It was the home of his heart. He hoped Boromir would love it too.

"This is your house. I can tell by the way you look at it." Boromir looked around the inside of the house. It was a little dusty but still it didn't look like it had been empty for years as it must have been. He looked at the bed and looked at Legolas. Legolas smiled at him.

"Yes, this is my home. My father thinks that his home is mine but my heart is here. I have come here every chance I've gotten for ...." Legolas realized he was older than a human could even imagine being, especially who hadn't seen an elf until a few years ago. "For a long time."

It was late in the day and both of them were tired. They ate bread that they had gotten the day before and built a fire to chase away the chill of the night air. Legolas wanted Boromir, wanted to bury himself inside the tall, slender man. But Boromir had not offered himself to the elf and he was loath to ask. But he wanted so badly that he ached with it.

Boromir stood in front of the fireplace and began to remove his clothes as he watched Legolas. The firelight behind made him look enchanted and glowing as he dropped each piece of clothing to the floor. Legolas knew he was being seduced and he loved it. When Boromir was naked, he beckoned the elf to come closer. He did and was rewarded by being stripped by impatient hands and kissed by hungry lips. There they stood in fire's soft glow, man and elf, both fair and beautiful. They came together in the soft bed, bodies touching, mouths joined.

In the dying firelight, Boromir pulled the golden elf's legs up over his shoulders as he entered him, then lowered them so Legolas could wrap them around him. Legolas fought back tears as they made love. He wanted to tell Boromir how much he loved him but he knew it was still not the time. The tears slipped out as pleasure rolled over him a gentle wave.

Boromir whispered words that Legolas never expected to hear. "I love you, sweet elf, I love you." The tears came harder as pearly semen filled him with liquid heat. Boromir cried out his name and kissed him as the last tremors ran through his body.

Later, they lay in the near darkness. Neither one was asleep.

"Legolas, the mines of Moria, there was a cave troll and the hobbit wore Mithril."

"Yes. You remembered."

"Small memories have been coming for days. I wanted to be sure before I said anything to you. There aren't many but they come more and more often."

Legolas held him for along time and thought about what would happen when Boromir finally remembered Amon Hen and what happened when the Ring took over. He only hoped that wasn't what had caused the memory loss to begin with. If it were, he was afraid for Boromir's sanity when he remembered it.

\---

The days slipped by in the lovely mountain foothills. Boromir and Legolas hunted and roamed the mountains quite a bit, sometimes alone and sometimes together. Legolas worried when Boromir was alone, but he knew he had no right to treat Boromir as if he were less a man than he was. He might be fragile but Legolas saw less and less of that as the days went by. Boromir was a soldier and he deserved to be treated like one.

Legolas was surprised one day when he came back the cottage and found a clean shaven Boromir. Legolas stared at him, mouth open. He looked like an elf lord. His long blond hair was pulled back from his face and secured at the nape of his neck with a small piece of leather. The scar on his right cheek only made him look more distinguished and his beardless face made Legolas almost weak with desire.

"Boromir." Legolas found himself speechless.

Boromir smiled at him. "You approve?"

Legolas responded by closing the distance between them and taking the human's face into his hands. He touched it, running his hands over the smoothness. He touched Boromir lips with his thumb as he looked into green eyes. Both of them knew what was coming as they leaned toward each other for a kiss. The kiss was passionate from the start.

Eager hands explored and undressed each other as Legolas kissed the smooth face of his lover. He put a hand back and untied Boromir's hair, freeing the long tresses into his hands. His mouth was back on Boromir's as they held each other. The sun shone through the trees and dappled their skin in the light as they lay down in the soft grass by the well.

Legolas found himself burning for this beautiful creature. His hands explored the hard muscle of Boromir's body as his mouth kissed the smooth skin of his face over and over. He rubbed his hard penis over the man's thigh. It felt so good that he put one leg up over Boromir and began to move against him, in effect humping his thigh. Boromir was breathing as hard the elf now. He shifted position until Legolas was pressed against his bare ass. The elf's heart beat even harder as his cock pressed the crevasse of the man's ass. He barely heard the whispered words, "Take me."

He licked his hand until it was wet and rubbed his cock, wetting it as much as he could. He positioned himself at Boromir's entrance. He closed his eyes and pushed gently. He slid in with ease, remembering the size of Boromir's last lover. The inside walls were still tight and hot around him. He stopped moving when he was entirely inside. He even stopped breathing for a second, listening to the sound of his heart as it slammed into the walls of his chest as hard as it did when he went to battle, if not harder. Then he began to move in and out, slowly at first but that wasn't what he needed now. He needed to make Boromir his own, to take the Uruk_hai's place in Boromir's body. "You're mine," he gritted out as he pounded into the man. Legolas was panting from exertion and from excitement as he managed to say what he had wanted to say for a very long time, "And I love you." He rammed himself deep, staying inside as he came, straining to go deeper. He felt the muscles inside of Boromir tighten and heard his groans as he followed Legolas.

They lay joined for awhile afterwards. Legolas kept touching Boromir's smooth face and running his hands through his long hair. He kissed the back of his neck and whispered again, so there was no mistaking, "I love you, Boromir."

Boromir moved so the elf slipped from him, and he lay on his back so he could look at Legolas. "I have been thinking about the Uruk_hai and thinking about what happened when I was one of them-." He put a finger over Legolas' mouth when he started to interrupt. "I was one of them. I wanted to be. I needed to please Lurtz. I.. he... Legolas, I need you to understand that I loved him. He was a big brute to you, but he took care of me. He was proud of me when I became a Uruk-hai warrior. He ...." He broke off, lost in memories, lost in tears.

Legolas had no idea what to say, what to do. He hadn't known how deeply Boromir had felt about the Uruk_hai. He found that it didn't upset him. He felt sad for Boromir, knowing that he had killed the Uruk_hai to save him. "Thank you."

"What for?" Boromir looked surprised.

"For saving me, for loving me. If my life ends now, your love has made it all worthwhile." He pulled the man to his feet and they went inside to their warm fire and their warm bed. Legolas showed Boromir over and over how much he loved him.

\---

Gimli returned to Legolas and Boromir. He rode a wagon, it was pulled by a small brown horse and carried lots of provisions. They were glad to see him. Boromir wondered as he looked at the dwarf get down from the wagon if Legolas knew that Gimli loved him. It was obvious to him as he watched them together.

"What news?" Legolas asked.

"All is peaceful. Elrond and Galadriel are readying to go to the Sea. Eomer and Faramir are kings, now under Elessar. The Orcs have been driven far to the south, beyond the known lands. And your father wishes to see you, Legolas. He would like you to come to the city."

Boromir saw the shadow pass over Legolas' face. "What is wrong?"

"My father is not the most approving father in the world. He is a cold and greedy elf sometimes and does not approve of much that his wayward son does." He sighed.

"I will stay here if you wish." Boromir didn't want to cause trouble, and he was actually surprised when Legolas turned on him, furious.

"You will NOT stay here! I am not ashamed of you." He grabbed Boromir and kissed him hard, right in front of a squirming Gimli. Boromir cleared his throat and Legolas blushed. "We will go to the city tomorrow. Today we rest."

They did. Gimli told them of his trip and they talked of the past some. Boromir still did not remember a lot about the past before he was taken by the Orcs. Legolas knew that the past plagued his dreams sometimes because of the names he'd call in the night.

*****

They set out for the city first thing in the morning. A dark shadow seemed to be cast over them and no one said very much. The elves at the city gates were cool toward them and Legolas' fury was barely contained. By the time they reached the palace of Thranduil, Boromir knew things were going to go badly. He'd never seen the even tempered elf he loved so agitated and so openly hostile. When they reached the court, he found out why.

Thranduil was as beautiful as his son, but the similarities ended there. Where Legolas was kind and gentle, this elf was cold as ice. The older elf watched his son with narrowed eyes. Boromir was a step behind on one side and Gimli was a step behind on the other side. They did not seat themselves nor hang back as Legolas approached his father.

"Well, son, I see you still prefer the company of lesser beings. Tell me, is your big human trying to look like an elf? If he is, he's failing miserably."

"These are my friends, father. They are with me by choice as I am with them."

"You're as bad as Elrond's daughter. At least, she married a king."

Boromir could see Legolas was trembling with rage. He wanted to touch him, to reassure him, but he didn't want to make things worse. He was surprised when the elf put one hand back and touched his arm briefly.

"I did not come here for your approval, father. I came because Gimli said you wanted to see me."

"I want to know when you're going to stop this foolish rambling and settle down as my heir. You know you can't go about forever with a dwarf and a human! And this human is the one who fought WITH the Orcs. I have heard that he was the lover of one of them. I have heard that he is your lover as well. You would bed an Orc's bitch, my son?"

"Father, that's quite enough! Boromir and Gimli were part of the Fellowship and were responsible for the destruction of the ring. They are my friends and they will always be my friends. They are part of me. If you can't accept that, well, then you reject me also. And yes, Father, Boromir is my lover. I love him with all my heart."

"So be it. Do not bring those two to my court again."

"The house at the foot of the mountain is mine. My mother gave it to me. You keep your elves away! I will not darken your door again." He turned and strode from the room, his lover and his best friend at his heels. Gimli got in the wagon. Legolas turned to Boromir and pulled him into his arms for a few minutes, as if absorbing enough love to keep him going, and then they mounted their horses and they all rode away.

*****


	5. Chapter 5

Part Five 

Boromir awoke in a cold sweat. His mind awoke to a cold, dark memory.

Amon Hen

_"Give me the ring!"_

He sat upright in the bed, gasping for breath! NO! NO! Not that!

"What is it, Boromir?" Legolas asked as he sat up and pulled the shaking man into his arms.

"The Ring! What happened to it? I tried to take if from the little ... the ... Frodo." Boromir was shaking all over. His voice was almost a whisper.

"He got away from you. He took the Ring to Mount Doom and destroyed it."

"I can see his eyes. He was so scared of me. I would have taken it too if he had not gotten away. Oh, Legolas! I am a monster. No less than the Uruk_hai. You should have left me with them!"

"No! Never say that! When we knew they had taken you, my heart broke. I could barely go on, but go on I did in hopes of finding you one day."

"Legolas, I remember another human, the Ranger but he wasn't just a Ranger, was he?"

"No, he is the King now."

"Did we ... were he and I... were we lovers?"

Legolas didn't say anything at all for a very long time. He just sat and stared out into space as if looking into the past.

"What do you remember about Aragorn?"

"Mostly just bits and pieces. Hating him at some sort of meeting. Kissing him." Boromir closed eyes. "More." He didn't have to elaborate. Legolas knew what he remembered. He had seen them in the meadow, in the mines and at Lothlorien. It was one time in his life that he had been envious of his friend, Aragorn.

"Did I love him?"

"Yes, in your warriors' ways, you both loved each other. But duty came first. As it did with us all. Once I was free of that obligation, I swore I would never put anything before those I loved."

"When did you decide you loved me?"

"Do you remember Rivendell at all?"

"The meeting was at Rivendell?"

"Yes. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you at the council. You were an arrogant, smelly human. My cock ached and my heart pounded and I wanted to hurt you and I wanted to love you and I wanted to scream and run away."

Boromir smiled, a sad smile but a smile nonetheless. Legolas kissed his cheek. The he kissed his mouth. Everything was soon forgotten in the wake of passion as Legolas made love to Boromir with his mouth and hands. But not forgotten for long.

\---

The nightmares wouldn't leave him alone. He saw those huge blue eyes in his waking and his sleeping. Accusing him, condemning him. He recalled the Ring, how it whispered to him, promised him things. The freedom of his people, riches, pleasure, power... how seductive it was. He remembered being convinced that he should have the Ring. He woke every night crying and calling for Frodo. In his dreams, he sat on ground and cried. In the bedroll he shared with Legolas, he sobbed until he woke up. Then he cried some more.

Boromir went through his days numbly as if he were a dead man riding the horse to Gondor, to the White City. He felt only guilt and pain. He had cost so many so much pain. He couldn't seem to get his mind around it. He had finally gotten Legolas to tell him what had happened after his abduction. Reluctantly, Legolas did so.

He thought he would die when Legolas told of the abduction and abuse of the Little Ones. But it got worse. Helms Deep, where the armies of darkness meant to end it by killing them all, down to the last man. And the part that broke his heart, the tale of Gondor and his father. That his father had chosen to end his own life was bad enough but that he had tried to burn Faramir alive in a funeral pyre was far worse. Faramir, his beautiful brother, the light of Gondor. He wondered if things might have turned out different if he had not been lured by evil, by his own lust and greed.

He thought about these things all his waking hours as the rode toward Gondor.

*****

Legolas was in despair. Boromir cried at night and stared in the day. He awoke every night screaming Frodo's name. No amount of comfort helped. Boromir was becoming as one who had died. He was breathing but he was not living. The elf felt him slipping farther and farther away with each passing day. He believed that Boromir might die as an elf would, of a broken heart.

*****

Gimli watched the two of them. He ached for the pain of them both. He loved Legolas, a love that was unrequited, but even though it hurt, he was content to live with Legolas as his friend. He felt no jealousy toward the human, Boromir, who shared the elf's bed. It was just not in his nature to do so.

He did, however, wish that he could ease their pain. He didn't know if going to Gondor was a good idea, but he did know that the Aragorn was a healer. Perhaps he could heal hearts as well as bodies. He would see them both happy again.

*****

The closer they got to Minas Tirith, the heavier his despair became. Boromir sometimes wondered if Frodo has destroyed the Ring after all. He felt as if he were being pulled under a current so strong that he had no hope of escape. Not even the sight of his home made him feel better. If anything, his guilt weighed heavier as they rode into the gates of the city. Had his actions driven his father mad? Would those he had called friend and family want him punished? How could they not? He himself would welcome punishment. Even death. Perhaps at last it would ease his pain.

\---

Aragorn watched them as they rode up to the gates. He knew that the man was Boromir, but it was hard to reconcile this beautiful, almost elven creature with the man he knew Boromir to be. He also noted the slow gate and how the man never raised his head. He wondered if it were good or bad that they were all here, Frodo, Merry, Pip, Faramir... even Gandalf was here for a bit. The last of the Fellowship to arrive was at the city gates, the gates to the White city.

He thought of the conversation that he and Boromir had so long ago about the Lords of Gondor.

"Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?" Boromir had asked him. He wiped a tear. He knew that Boromir had been through much more than the rest of them. He could see it on that beautiful face even at distance. Perhaps only Frodo had suffered more.

He smiled when arms wrapped around his neck from behind. His Arwen. His life.

"He has suffered much, has he not?" She knew just from looking too. She knew more but she didn't say it. "Perhaps we should go down to the gate to meet them."

*****

Legolas saw them, Aragorn and Arwen. They both shone like the sun to his tired eyes. It seemed that the more Boromir suffered, the dimmer and duller Legolas felt. He knew that he would die if Boromir did. Boromir was his heart. It was that simple.

Boromir gasped at the sight of them. Legolas could feel his pain, almost as if it were his own. Boromir got down from his horse and stared at them.

"We have waited for you for some time. Welcome home, Boromir." The King reached for Boromir, who went into his arms like a sobbing child. Aragorn just held him as Arwen turned to Legolas and Gimli.

"He will be all right with Elessar, Legolas. You and Gimli come with me. I'll take you to bathe and rest." Legolas was reluctant to go. He looked back at his lover in the other man's arms. He wiped his own eyes as Arwen and Gimli led him away.

*****

Faramir heard the news from Legolas, who had insisted on telling him in person. He had promised he would do this, and he had. Eowyn was at his side, a good thing because his knees wouldn't hold him. He leaned against her, and she and Legolas eased him to a chair behind him.

No one, not even Boromir, knew how he had worshipped him all these years. His brother was alive! He could tell by the shape that Legolas was in that things weren't going well though. The elf looked like a shadow of himself.

"Is he hurt?"

"He is in pain, a pain I cannot heal." Legolas told him finally.

"He is with the King, Faramir," Arwen told him. He relaxed a bit at this. He knew what a gifted healer the King was. Elessar would take care of him.

*****


	6. Chapter 6

Part Six 

Aragorn led his friend to the large set of rooms he shared with his wife. Boromir walked silently beside him. He led him not to the sitting room, but to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and motioned for Boromir to sit beside him. The blond sat down gingerly.

"You have no idea how much I missed you, Boromir. We feared you were dead. We feared even worse."

"Death would have been easy. Indeed, my time with the Orcs was easy compared to the pain I feel now. When they took me, I forgot the past. I lived only in the present. Then after Legolas.... Well, I remembered. I remembered Frodo, the Ring, all of it. I have fallen so far into despair, I know no way out."

"That is why Legolas brought you to me. I am King, but my more important gift is I am Healer. I have healed the worst of the wounds and cast out the shadows left from the terrible struggle. I would do this for you, my brother. I love you well and I think Legolas loves you with his whole being."

"Things I have done are not forgivable, Aragorn..." he began and he talked for hours and hours, pouring all of his pain and sorrow out before the King. When he fell into sobbing, Aragorn held him in his arms and spoke soothing words to him. If Aragorn thought his sins unforgivable, he never told Boromir that. Aragorn cried at his account of attacking Frodo at Amon Hen and at his account of killing his Orc protector to save Legolas.

Finally in the early afternoon, Aragorn pulled Boromir down to the bed and the beautiful blond man finally slept. They lay there for hours with Aragorn deep in thought and Boromir deep in sleep. Aragorn finally drifted off himself and was startled when Arwen whispered to him to wake up. He looked over at Boromir.

"He looks more like an elf than a man, doesn't he?" She observed.

A sad smile. "I don't think he wants to remember that he is a man anymore. I can't say as I blame him."

"Shall I have some food sent? Oh and Legolas is getting nervous."

"Yes, bring us food and tell Legolas all will be well."

Arwen left the room as quietly as she had come. Aragorn gently woke Boromir and they talked more as they ate the food Arwen had brought. Boromir told Aragorn he was surprised that his heart didn't seem quite so heavy as it had before. Aragorn smiled.

"You must forgive yourself, my friend. That will be the hardest thing you will ever do, but you owe it to yourself and to Legolas. Then I think you want to talk to Frodo and your Little Ones. But the one who wants to see YOU the most is your little brother."

Boromir gasped at the thought of Faramir. He had never thought to see him again.

"Do you wish to see Legolas? Arwen says he is very worried about you."

"Yes! He must be frantic."

**

Legolas leaped into his arms as he came through the door. He could see that even though the cloud was not gone, his lover was more himself than he had been since his memory began to return. They kissed with a passion that Legolas had missed these last weeks. Soon both man and elf were naked, pale elf skin against golden human skin.There were none of the soft sighs of gentleness, but instead hungry sounds of males loving each other. Legolas cried out as Boromir took him hard and fast, pouring the longing and need of weeks into his lover's body. Legolas took Boromir also in much the same manner, collapsing exhausted on top of the man when he had come.

They slept, both knowing that there were many more bridges to cross tomorrow.

\---

Faramir both looked forward to and dreaded this morning. He wanted so badly to see his brother again, but was afraid he had changed so much that he wouldn't know what to say. He asked Eowyn for the sixth time if he looked all right. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"You are the handsomest man in the world. Now go and see your brother."

*****

Boromir was in much the same state as Faramir.

"Will he think I look bad without a beard? Will he be disappointed that I am here?" He looked at Legolas, panic clear on his face.

Legolas smiled and moved behind him to braid his long blond hair into one long braid that fell down his back. "He will be thrilled to see you alive. How could anyone ever be disappointed in you?"

*****

They met in Arwen's solarium. The morning sun shone through the trees and songbirds hailed the new day. Tea was waiting for them on a small table. Faramir arrived first and sat down. He tried to remain calm but was up pacing in minutes.

He felt rather than heard Boromir. He turned and there he was, his brother. He was slimmer than he had been before and clean shaven, his hair long in the fashion of elves. Faramir felt his chest ache with joy. He opened his mouth to greet the other man but no words came out. Before he knew it, he was enfolded in the same arms that held him when he was five and got scared in the night. It was Boromir, his beloved brother. His face was wet and he didn't know if they were his tears or Boromir's.

They finally pulled apart and looked at one another.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Boromir."

"It feels strange to see so many people. I haven't seen anyone but Legolas and Gimli since..." He didn't go on.

"I know," Faramir touched his face. Boromir saw love in his eyes, not pity, not shame, not disgust. Just love.

"I was afraid you wouldn't want to see me. I've done so many-."

"It's in the past. No one is going to hold anything against you. The war is over and the Ring is gone. We are trying to rebuild our lives. I am just so happy that you're alive and you're here. When I heard rumors of a human with the Uruk-hai, I asked Legolas to find you. I hoped someday you'd return to us."

"Tell me about Father."

"He was insane, Boromir. He tried to burn me alive and I think he did it because I wasn't you. He was devastated when he found out you were missing."

"I loved him, but he was always a little crazy."

"I tell myself it was the palantir, it was Mordor, though I know its not altogether true. I guess I keep thinking if I were a better son...."

It was Boromir's turn to comfort. He pulled his brother into his arms. "Tell me about this lovely woman you've married. She is Eomer's sister? I think I may have met her once."

"She was a warrior, a shield maiden. She is brave and wonderful and she loves me. That fact amazes me."

Boromir smiled and cuffed Faramir lightly on the cheek.

Everything was all right now.

\---

Faramir took Boromir back to his apartments to meet Eowyn, his beautiful bride. She smiled at the blond stranger who almost as familiar as the man who shared her bed with her.

"I am glad to finally meet, brother of mine." She took his hands and hugged him, laughing gently at his blush. "You must have breakfast with us, brother."

Boromir felt very uncomfortable for awhile but soon he was laughing and telling Eowyn stories of her husband's childhood. They talked far past breakfast, so long, in fact that Legolas got nervous. Even Boromir had to smile when Legolas and Gimli showed up to collect him.

"Did you think we wouldn't give him back?" Eowyn smiled at Gimli. When Boromir got up from the table, both Eowyn and Faramir hugged and kissed him and told him they'd see him at dinner. Everyone ate dinner in the banquet hall as they had in Arwen's home. Sometimes songs were sung and stories told, much like the dinners in Rivendell had been.

Though this was the home of his youth, it was not his home. Nor would it ever be again. He wondered where his home was as they walked back to set of apartments the three of them were staying in. Before they got back to the apartments though, they met the Little Ones. They weren't quite as little as they had been when Boromir had known them, having grown a bit from the drink that Treebeard had given them.

"Boromir!!" Two bundles bowled him over. The three of them rolled on the floor til the Hobbits were satisfied they had hugged the stuffing out of the man. He blushed as they both kissed his cheeks.

"I told you he was here, Pip!" Merry grinned at Boromir.

"No, you didn't. I told YOU I saw him ride up." And the two of them broke into one of the good natured arguments that marked their friendship and was their way of showing love for each other. He hugged them both again, remembering all over how he had loved them, how they had been the bright spot on his long journey into darkness.

"Will you sit with us at dinner tonight?" Pippin could have asked him anything and he'd have said yes.

"Right between you if that is what you wish."

Pippin smiled and said, "It'll do."

**

At dinner, Boromir finally met the one person he dreaded meeting more than all the others combined: Frodo Baggins. Frodo was a pale shadow of himself, Boromir thought as he stared at the dark haired hobbit. Frodo would not look at Boromir for a very long time. He looked down at his plate.

"Frodo," Boromir finally said very softly. The hobbit finally looked at him. "Can we talk later? I would like to talk to you."

"Yes, we can talk after dinner."

Boromir was nervous through the rest of the never ending dinner. It seemed as if the tales and the songs would never end. But they did. When they got up from the table, Frodo took out his pipe and motioned for the human to follow him outside. Gimli and Legolas started to go too, but Boromir indicated he would go alone.

They walked outside. The night air was cool but not cold as they stood looking out at the land of Gondor, the land that Boromir had grown up expecting to be Steward of. Instead of him, Faramir held that title.

"I am glad you are well, Boromir. I...."

Boromir finally was able to speak. "Forgive me, Frodo, for all I did." He found himself on his knees with tears in his eyes. He saw the ravages of the Ring in the hobbit's eyes and on his pretty face. He knew what the Ring could do to you. It had done it to his soul. Frodo didn't say anything for a long time. He just stared at Boromir. Then he spoke.

"You know about the Ring, Sam knows, he carried it too, and I know. The others think they do, but none of them can ever know." He did something then that Boromir never expected. Frodo turned and took him into his arms and held him. And he cried. Boromir was crying in minutes too. They cried for a long time, until neither had more tears to shed. Frodo looked at Boromir and said, "Go with your elf and your dwarf and live a happy life, Boromir. I think you can. I can never be glad here, too much damage was done to me. But you can. And Sam. The two of you must go and be happy for me too. If you do this, it is all I will ask of you."

They smoked in silence for a long while. Then Frodo walked Boromir back to the rooms he shared with Legoals and Gimli.

*****


	7. Chapter 7

"Are there graves, Faramir?" Boromir asked his brother as they looked out over Gondor. That Minas Tirith was at last at peace and prosperity was already evident with the busy-ness of the town. Merchants and craftsmen plied their trade and the villagers came by the hundreds to do business with them.

"Yes, there are. Would you like to visit father's grave? He is buried beside our mother."

"Yes, I would say goodbye to him too. I lived much of my life to please him, as did you, I'm afraid. I fear I still don't know what to do with my life without him directing it."

"Have you thought about the Stewardship?"

"No. I could never be the Steward, Faramir. I have done things ... I couldn't ask our people to accept me."

"Boromir, the people would love you, no matter what."

"Faramir, I..." he turned away, unable to look at Faramir. "I did things... the Uruk-Hai... I...Lurtz was...." He choked on a sob. Faramir said nothing, just put his arm around his brother's shoulder. Boromir finally said in a whisper, "I was his lover, his ....well, I was his. He used me as he wanted to, and.... I didn't always hate it." Faramir just held him. His love was not conditional as their father's had been, and he wanted Boromir to know that.

They slowly made their way to the graves of their parents. More tears followed for both of them as they said goodbye to the past. Boromir said goodbye to Lurtz, burying his memory here with his family because he'd not been able to bury his body. He had loved him in a way no one but Legolas could understand. He cried for all those he had killed and for those he had loved.

He and Faramir walked back to his apartments arm in arm. When they got to the door, Faramir reached inside his shirt and pulled out something, a chain with a pendant. He slipped it off and slipped it over Boromir's head. Boromir looked at it. It was a golden pendant with shield of the Steward of Gondor engraved upon it. He looked up at Faramir with tears in his eyes.

"Goodbye, my brother. Go in peace." Faramir whispered to him.

\---

Gimli was glad they had decided to leave. It was their last night. He had been sharing chambers with Legolas and Boromir since they'd been here. Though they both tried to be discreet, neither could manage to be very quiet. He wasn't jealous but rather felt intrusive. They had this last night here at Minas Tirith and then they would leave.

He saw them reaching for each other in the moonlight. He watched them. Legolas was breathtakingly beautiful, but then he always had been. Boromir had become beautiful to him too, he realized, shocked by the knowledge. He was even more shocked to realize he had come to love the man too, almost as much as he did Legolas.

*****

Gimli was so busy thinking that he almost missed Legolas talking to him. "Gimli, I think we all need to talk."

Gimli didn't speak for a moment, knowing, he thought, what was coming. They were going to ask him to stay behind. "Perhaps we do, Legolas."

The elf and the human were dressed for traveling. They had just returned from breakfast and were packing up the belongings they had. Gimli had gotten up earlier than they and had already eaten and packed. Now he just waited.

The three of them sat down at the small table in their room. Gimli stared at them, wondering what it was like to make love with either of them. He knew a dwarf like him could never hope to know. He didn't have the beauty of an elf nor the size of a man. While he knew that men and elves often found hobbits attractive, he'd never heard of one who found a dwarf so.

Legolas looked so uncomfortable that he wanted to just run away. "Gimli, I'm not a fool and you and I have been together since... well, since the fellowship was born. I know how you feel about me. Boromir and I have been talking, and well, we both realized something that perhaps we should tell you."

Boromir spoke next. "I know you love Legolas and so do I. I love you as well. If we are all to stay together then the three of us must... become one. One family, one unit....." He trailed off and put his hand on the dwarf's shoulder, squeezing it.

"We want you to be with us." Legolas said.

Gimli wasn't sure at all what they meant. He had been with them all along. Then he felt Boromir's breath on the back of his neck just before he felt the man's lips touch his skin. Legolas leaned forward and touched his lips to the dwarf's lips. He forgot to breathe for a second as the realization of what they meant began to settle in. Within minutes, there was a naked man, elf and dwarf in the large bed and Gimli found out he was as noisy as they were.

*****

"I'm sorry, sir but the door is locked and no one answers the knock," the young page told Aragorn.

"That's fine. I'll go down there myself."

Aragorn knocked on the door and no one answered. He smiled as he placed his ear against it and heard the gravelly voice of the dwarf saying, "It feels so good, Legolas! Please don't stop!" Then he heard Boromir make a sound he remembered from a very long time ago. It finally sank in what they were doing. He smiled and left the door. He'd see them when they came out of the room.

\---

The horses had been brought around. Everyone had turned out to tell them goodbye. Aragorn noticed the big smile on the dwarf's face and smiled himself. It was about time Legolas realized how much Gimli cared about him. He turned to Boromir. Most of all, he wished him happiness. He deserved it after all he'd been through. He hoped he had helped heal him. He knew seeing his brother and talking to Frodo had helped a great deal.

Faramir had told Aragorn how Boromir had finally cried for the Uruk-hai who had been his lover. Faramir wanted him to stay but Aragorn knew that this was not home to him any longer. Boromir's home was with Legolas. The elf was his life, plainly and simply. He knew the three of them were going back to Mirkwood and from there, he expected they would explore the whole of Middle Earth.

They mounted their horses and rode out of the gates of Minas Tirith, out into the sunshine. Their loved ones waved at them as they rode out of sight.

***

And they lived happily ever to the end of their days.

*****


End file.
